Court Rulings
Appellate Division Finds that Constructive Notice an Issue for Fall on Clear Liquid Near Store Checkout Counter
Plaintiff Shirley Broadnax suffered injuries when she slipped and fell on clear liquid on the floor at a supermarket owned by the defendant AJS Supermarkets. The trial judge had granted summary judgment to the defendant on the basis that the Plaintiff failed to show that the defendant had actual or constructive notice of the “dangerous […]
Appellate Division Upholds Defense Jury Verdict Against Plaintiff For Trip Over A Curb
Plaintiff Angela Lash tripped over a curb while stepping onto a sidewalk at defendants’ car wash. As a result, she broke her leg. The issue in Lash v. Ultimate Hand Car Wash and Detail Center, LLC and Carpel Rt. 46 Associates, LLC, 2021 N.J. Super. Unpub LEXIS 2601 (App. Div. November 5, 2021), was whether […]
United States Supreme Court Reaffirms the Defense of Qualified Immunity as Applied in Constitutional Excessive Force Cases
The United States Supreme Court has taken two opportunities to reaffirm the use of the defense of qualified immunity as applied to police officers who have been sued for civil rights violations pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983. On October 18, 2021, the Court rendered decisions in City of Tahlequah v. Bond, 2021 U.S. LEXIS […]
New Jersey Supreme Court Holds that Multiple Documents Cannot be Used to Establish Compliance with the Notice Requirements of the Tort Claims Act
By: Sean P. Dugan, Law ClerkEditor: Betsy G. Ramos, Esq. On June 13, 2017, Plaintiff H.C. Equities served the County of Union and Union County Improvement Authority a “Notice of Tort Claim” for “damages arising from tortious interference with contract … conspiracy, defamation and trade libel.” The claim arose out of a contract dispute where […]
New Jersey Appellate Division Reverses Trial Court’s Dismissal with Prejudice of Lawsuit Due to Failure to Answer Interrogatories
Plaintiff Alexa Rivera, on her on behalf and on behalf of her minor children, filed a lawsuit due to injuries they suffered in an automobile accident in 2018 when her disabled vehicle was struck by a Mack truck owned by defendant Campbell’s Auto Express (“Campbell’s”). She filed a lawsuit, suing the driver, Donald Ayusa and […]
Appellate Division Issues Ruling Explaining Distinction Between Motions for Reconsideration of an Interlocutory Order Versus a Final Order
In the published Appellate Division decision of Lawson v. Dewar, 2021 N.J. Super. LEXIS 69 (App. Div. May 27, 2021), the Court addressed the “commonly misunderstood distinctions” between motions seeking reconsideration of final orders and motions seeking reconsideration of interlocutory orders. This case concerns a complaint by the plaintiff Alfred Lawson against the Borough of […]
New Jersey Appellate Division Upholds Dismissal Of Civil Complaint, Dismissed Four Years Earlier Due To Lack Of Prosecution
Plaintiff Maria Santiago was involved in a car crash in Paterson, New Jersey on June 27, 2013 with a car driven by Defendant Castillo-Almonte and owned by Defendant Cepeda. She timely filed a personal injury lawsuit, suing both the driver and the owner of the vehicle involved in the collision, and was able to serve […]
Snow Removal Contractor Found Not To Have Violated Contract For Failure To Add Owner Of Property To Its Liability Policy
The plaintiff, Donna Michel was walking across the parking lot of the Wayne Towne Center when she was struck by a car operated by Sharon Langel. At the time of the accident, piles of snow on medians at the end of the rows of the parking spaces in the parking lot allegedly impeded Langel’s visibility […]
Questions Of Proper Speed And Control Of A Vehicle Found To Be Question Of Fact In Auto Accident Case, Precluding Order For Summary Judgment
The plaintiff Alma Miley was involved in an automobile accident with the defendant Andrew Friel. It occurred at an intersection in which plaintiff’s direction of travel was controlled by a stop sign but defendant’s direction of travel was not. The issue in Miley v. Friel, 2020 N.J. Super. Unpub. LEXIS 57 (App. Div. January 9, […]
Court Applies Mode of Operation Rule to Injury in Supermarket Caused by Water on Floor Due to Melted Snow from Shopping Cart
Plaintiff Mindy Klarman was at Pathmark’s Lake Hopatcong supermarket on January 31, 2011 when she fell. She slipped on a puddle of water near the checkout, which came from snow off of the bottom of shopping carts, which had been brought into the store. In Klarman v. Pathmark Supermarket, 2018 N.J. Super. Unpub. LEXIS 2808 […]
Betsy G. Ramos
Keith Toll
Connect With Capehart Scatchard